Safety in numbers
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
14 March 2021
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–> NEWSLast night men and women across the country lit candles and attended vigils to pay respects to Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped and murdered on 3 March. The outpouring of grief was mixed with the righteous anger of many women who fear for their safety whenever they go out alone, especially after dark. This tragic event makes every runner aware of her vulnerability, as Amelia Pettitt writes, below:
We are all deeply saddened by the abduction of Sarah Everard while walking home in a part of town not far from us on well-lit residential roads. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family, and everyone affected by the news.
We are aware many of our female members already feel anxious about running and training alone in the dark, and how difficult it has been to avoid this during the pandemic. This incident is sure to have magnified this fear and has brought overdue attention to a shameful issue that hasn’t been spoken about or addressed enough.
Although we are still not able to train as a group, we encourage our members to take the opportunity to train in pairs and , when possible, in the daylight. We recognise our female members will be on high alert right now when out in the local area. Please could we remind our male members to try to avoid running close to women, by crossing the street where safe to do so, and giving plenty of space, especially when out running in the dark.
We look forward to training together where we can keep each other safe and look out for each other.
We will meet again…
…and we know where and when: the first Kent AC training session back at the Ladywell Arena will be on Tuesday 30th March. The track pass set-up used at the end of last year will be in use again, but the committee has decided to roll this single session in March into the track pass for April with no additional charge for it.
Another date for the diary
Monday 22 March is that date, when Sport England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport set out further guidance for race organisers keen to stage their oft-postponed licensed road and multi-terrain races in England. For those of us with increasingly tetchy crossings-out on our year planners and training schedules, it will not come a moment too soon.
Please purchase your track pass in advance here – both a monthly pass covering March and April sessions is available, as well as a yearly pass that will save you the admin if you would like to pay a single payment upfront for the year. You will need to show your Kent AC membership app, or a print out on the gate.
Please see a helpful FAQs guide here
Southern Athletics League Update
With the first SAL fixture on 22nd May, cancelled, the league will be moving to a ‘local competition’ structure for 2021, with no promotion/relegation. Kent will be competing in the ‘South East London’ Division together with Bexley, Cambridge Harriers and London City.
Fixture dates remain unchanged for the remaining four dates with the first two matches (Sunday 20 June, Sunday 11 July) taking place at Eltham, with the third match (Saturday 14 August) at Bexley. The venue for the fourth match on Saturday 11 September is currently TBC.
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–> KENT AC SUBSMembership renewal reminders are being sent out as usual in the hope that training and competition can return to some form of normality this year. Should this not prove to be the case then the committee will come to a collective decision on what action to take with regards to club subscriptions for the 2022/23 year.
When you pay your subscription, you’re also offered England Athletics Affiliation for a further £15, which gives reduced-priced entry to all those races we cannot wait to start training for.
A further bonus of membership is a whole welter of discounts with kit/shoes retailers, so we can all sashay back to track modelling our box-fresh shoes and wrist furniture, feeling full of vim and vigour and ready for a scorching summer of running.
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–> UPCOMING FIXTURESHere’s the link to the latest fixture list – everyone in the club can add races they come across to the list and we encourage you to do so!
Wimbledon 5 Mile Relays
Ben Noad is organising a follow up Wimbledon 5 mile relays (actual physical racing rather than virtual racing!). Katie Rowland will be arranging the women’s team for this and James Bowler the men’s teams. This will be on Sunday 12th April. Ben is also organising a couple of fast road 5km races at Battersea Park on 7th May and 28th May, more details to follow, but please contact either James or Katie to express an interest in competing in the Wimbledon team event.
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